The World’s Heritage

Fully updated to include the latest sites added to the World Heritage List. The List is managed by the World Heritage Committee and each site is judged under strict criteria – only the world’s most spectacular and extraordinary sites make it on to the List.

UNESCO World Heritage sites include some of the most famous places in the world, such as the ancient Nabatean city of Petra in Jordan, the legendary Acropolis in Athens, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, and Machu Picchu, the ‘Lost City of the Incas’, in Peru.

• Descriptions of all the UNESCO World Heritage sites
• Location map for every site
• More than 850 colour photographs

Background

The World Heritage List includes properties forming part of the cultural and natural heritage which the World Heritage Committee considers as having outstanding universal value. In 1972 the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) adopted the Convention concerning the Protection of the World’s Cultural and Natural Heritage. Since then, 1199 sites in 168 States Parties have been inscribed onto the list, 933 of which are cultural, 227 natural and 39 mixed properties. 56 of these are classified as “In Danger”.